1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the sleeping/seating art and, more particularly to an improved portable sleeping mat/seating arrangement particularly useful in various outdoor activities ranging from backpacking, camping, mountain climbing and the like, to comfortable seating at stadiums or other locations where more comfort in seating is desired than is provided.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of portable sleeping mats/seating arrangements have heretofore been made available. One such application is in the mountain climbing, backpacking, and generally outdoor activity fields. As such, such portable sleeping mats/seating arrangements are preferably comparatively lightweight and are flexible so that they may be readily folded or rolled into a comparatively compact arrangement. One such portable seating arrangement heretofore available had a flexible cover having a lower layer and an upper layer. The lower layer was continuous from one end to the other. The upper portion was divided along a central line extending between the peripheral edges and a flexible plastic foam pad was removably insertable through the slit in the upper layer. Such a seating arrangement folded along the slit. Large pockets were provided along the lateral peripheral edges of such a prior art seating arrangement and padded rigid members were insertable into the four pockets extending along the lateral edges from openings aligned with the slit in the upper layer. The pad was not bonded to the cover. At the top and bottom of the seating arrangement above described, flaps extending outwardly from the above-mentioned pockets were provided and straps were coupled to these flaps for detachable coupling together so that the back portion of the seating arrangement could move along a fold line towards and away from the seat portion and be restrained in any desired angular position by the strap means, the fold occurring along the above-mentioned slit in the body.
Such portable seating arrangement has not proven to be completely satisfactory. In addition to relative movement between the pad and the cover surrounding the pad, the cover was not air tight and, therefore, could not be inflated and deflated to provide either a comparatively small volume when deflated or greater resistance to compression when inflated. Additionally, the bulk of the padded rigid members extending on the pockets on the lateral edges of the body prevented convenient rolling of the entire unit into a comparative small configuration. Further, there was no reinforcing along the remote ends extending between the lateral edges and, therefore, there was considerable flexing of the back portion and the seat portion when in use because of the forces imposed thereon. Such bending or flexing detracted from the comfort of the unit when so utilized as a seat.
In other prior art arrangements, mats or pads utilized for backpackers, campers, or the like for sleeping have incorporated an open-cell foam inside a body member having an upper layer and a lower layer and the closed-cell foam bonded throughout its extent to the upper layer and lower layer of the body member. Such sleeping pads have also been provided with an air valve to allow air to selectively enter and leave the cavity containing the open-cell foam pad. However, such pads have not been provided with a fold line to allow folding of the pad into a configuration having a back and a seat.
In other applications as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,350, the length of a seating arrangement is made sufficient to allow the unit when in a flat configuration, to serve as a sleeping mat. Such a unit thus serves the functions of both a sleeping mat and a seat. By providing properly located fold lines, a portion of the unit could be folded substantially flat to overlie another portion and thus provide a double thickness for seating comfort.
In both a seating configuration and a sleeping configuration, it is often desired to have a pillow upon which the head may rest in either or both the sleeping and seating configuration.
Further, while the invention in U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,350 utilizes a flap portion for distributing forces along, for example, the top of the back portion, for the unit in a seating configuration, the present invention may be utilized in embodiments wherein such flap portion is eliminated.
Many of the prior art sleeping mats/seating arrangements have often been awkward or inconvenient to move when not in the fully rolled up and stored configuration. Therefore, there has long been a need for such a sleeping mat and/or seating arrangement to have provisions for compactly refraining the unit without requiring that the unit be placed in its full roll up and stored configuration.
Therefore, there has long been a need for a portable, flexible lightweight sleeping mat and/or seating arrangement having an air-tight cavity for retaining a pad and which cavity may be inflated and deflated as desired and for which a pillow may be provided.
Additionally, it has long been desired to provide a sleeping mat and/or seating arrangement of the type above described in which an improved structure along the lateral edges for removable retention of a stiffening rod may be provided.
Further, there has long been a need to provide an improved sleeping mat and/or seating arrangement which may be detachably but securely configured in a folded configuration for the convenient moving and handling thereof.